Michigan football celebrates win with fans: After the win over Iowa, the Michigan football team celebrated by joining the fans in the first few rows at Michigan Stadium today.

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That’s Denard Robinson with the ball — as a running back — on Michigan’s first drive. He finished with 98 yards rushing. / JULIAN H. GONZALEZ/DFP

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The Michigan Wolverines finally might have found their perfect quarterback.

They just have to cut two guys in half.

The legs of Denard Robinson and the arm of Devin Gardner combined this afternoon in the most inspired blend since Reese’s mixed peanut butter and chocolate. When they needed a big rush, Robinson took off. When they needed a big pass, Gardner released it. The beauty of this pairing was that you never knew who was doing what. Robinson was quarterback, running back, decoy, wide receiver and second man on a triple reverse. In his final performance at Michigan Stadium, the senior Mr. Everything finished with 98 yards rushing and 24 receiving.

The only thing he didn’t do was throw the ball. Not once. This was because 1) He couldn’t. 2) He shouldn’t. Not when he’s nursing a right arm nerve injury, and not when you have Gardner, who is improving exponentially as a passer.Gardner does regularly what Robinson does sometimes — puts the ball on a rope, with good decision-making and fine accuracy. He also can move. There were times today where he scrambled so much, the Iowa defenders seemed to say, “Oh, just pick someone and throw it already, we’re exhausted.”

Gardner ended the day involved in all six U-M touchdowns, three passing and three running. He completed 18 of 23 for 314 yards in a 42-17 victory.

Several of those passes were to Robinson, who used to throw to Gardner when Gardner played receiver.

“It is kind of funny,” Robinson said.

Someone asked whether he’d ever had a game in which he played quarterback but never threw a pass.

“No, I haven’t.”

Was he tempted to throw it? He laughed. “I wasn’t tempted.” He then said of Gardner: “He’s doing great. We all knew he could do it. I’m behind him 100%.”

Of all the impressive things on Robinson’s list today, that quote may be the top.

His team, just not his job

Think about it. You’re a senior quarterback. Even your coach says you’re “the face of Michigan football.” It’s your last game at Michigan Stadium. You’ve been out for two weeks, injured. You come back.

But you’re a running back. Or a receiver. Or you’re on the sideline. Not many egos can handle that.

“I think it tells you about what kind of kid he is,” coach Brady Hoke said. “His development, his growth, his character. … He’s grown within this team. And this is his team.”

Today, when he played three positions, he sort of WAS a team. But he has loomed that large before. Robinson may have ended his Ann Arbor days one dimensionally, but over his career, he was from another dimension altogether.

Really. Name another Wolverine who did what Robinson did. He likely will finish ahead of Jamie Morris in career rushing yards (making him No.3 on U-M’s all-time list). He also may surpass behind Elvis Grbac in career passing yards (making him No. 3 on that list as well). When you add up his yards, he’s the most productive offensive player in the history of Michigan football. It’s not even close.

Yet here he was cheering on his teammates — including the guy playing his position. Robinson is that rare kid who walks the walk even more than he talks the talk. “Just being one of the leaders on this team…” he said, choking up a bit, “it’s kind of hard to swallow right now, because it’s coming to an end.”

Bring on the Buckeyes

But it ain’t over yet. Ohio State is next Saturday, and you can bank on one thing: Ohio State is not Iowa, where the word “Hawkeye” surely doesn’t apply to its secondary, which managed to let Roy Roundtree and Devin Funchess get so far behind it, you wondered if they hadn’t jumped out of the stands. They caught baseball-toss touchdowns. All Gardner had to do was put enough air under the ball.

That won’t happen against the Buckeyes. But the game should be interesting. Although Hoke denied it, U-M likely tried every play in the book just so the 11-0 Buckeyes won’t be sure what’s coming at them. And it will be fascinating to see what Robinson can do against Urban Meyer, who tried to recruit him for Florida.

Don’t bet on it. The machine that worked didn’t look broken. And if it ain’t broken, be glad you built it.

As for Robinson, here’s a nod to the most explosive force to ever grace the turf at Stadium and Main.

“It’s an honor to play on front of (the Big House crowd),” he said. “The people, they cheer for you, they can’t wait to see you play.… I want to say thank you to everybody who ever came out and supported us.”

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